Love Lost
by Saffy2510
Summary: 5x21 When Stefan dies, Caroline is confronted by her feelings for him and struggles with how to deal with them and come to terms with them, whilst trying to find a way to bring Stefan back. Basically Caroline's POV at end of 5x21 onwards.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Hello! This is my first fanfiction, so i apologise if this story doesn't make any sense. This is set at the end of 5x21 and is a steroline story, from Caroline's P.O.V and how she felt when Stefan died.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or storyline. All the characters and most of this storyline belong to L.J Smith, Julie Plec and any other tvd writers. The line at the end is also a quote from The Mortal Instruments Book 6 by Cassandra Clare. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**I hope you enjoy this! :-)**

The first thing Caroline felt as he hit the ground was disbelief. There was no way Julian had just killed Stefan, but the heart he gripped in his hand and the horrifying sight of Stefan crumbling to the ground like a lifeless doll, greying and decayed suggested otherwise.

"There, dead doppelganger. Stops the spell" Julian hissed, before tossing Stefan's heart to the ground and walking away.

The final things she felt were shock and grief reverberating through her in shockwaves. As she hurried over to his greying body, she knew, if they all came back from this that she may never be able to look at Tyler the same way again before Stefan's veined, dull and empty face would flash before her eyes.

Because although Julian possessed his body it had been his hand that had yanked out Stefan's heart from his chest so brutally, and it was his voice that had uttered the words "dead doppelganger".

She knew she shouldn't have felt that way, and she didn't know why she did.

The grief coursing through her as she placed Stefan's head into her lap, was completly unbearable, like her heart was the one that had been ripped from her chest and it had been sliced into ribbons.

"Somebody help me!" Caroline yelled out as loud as her voice could carry, while she was choking back tears, even though she knew it was too late, but still, praying for something, anything. A miracle, against all odds.

"Please!" That time a sob managed to escape her throat and colour her voice.

Guilt now joined the swirling emotions coiling in her stomach like a snake.

_It wasn't supposed to be you._

Caroline should have died, Julian had reached for her, but Stefan, being the ever selfless hero, dragged Julian away from her and he had paid the ultimate price.

She should have tried harder, been quicker, but she had been too slow too slow, always too slow. That second, she spent being too hesitant, too scared, at snapping Tyler's neck had cost Stefan his life.

Something that couldn't ever be repaid.

She felt like a broken toy that couldn't be fixed again without the right batteries or screws. Stefan was her battery. He was the only thing that could fix her. But he wasn't here anymore so he couldn't. She had never felt grief like this before, shattering her like broken glass from the inside out.

Maybe it was the boiling rage that had burst through her grief, adding to her turmoil. She wanted to rip out Julian's heart, the way he had Stefan's, make him pay for taking away the best friend she so cherished away from her life just because he looked like somebody else. It burned through her, a fire exploding from her heart, but the grief overwhelmed the fiery rage bubbling within her, consuming her soul, crippling her.

It felt like it was destroying and eating away at her until there was nothing left.

She wished it would, so she wouldn't have to endure this bone-deep agony any longer.

She didn't care if that made her a bad person. All she cared about right now was him.

Fumbling for her phone with shaking fingers, Caroline half-carried, half-dragged Stefan's body inside the college lounge, lay him gently on the couch and, as quickly as her hands would let her, dialled Damon's number, all the while crying almost hysterically. She didn't know how she was going to tell him she hadn't managed to save his brother and now he was gone-dead.

Stefan was gone and he wasn't coming back. And that, Caroline suddenly realised, was something she didn't think she could live without. She had never become so close to flipping her switch as she did right now. For once, she really understood how Elena felt when Jeremy died.

She didn't know when or how it had happened, but life without Stefan had become life not worth living.

Not even a life at all.

It is always better to be the one who dies, rather than the one who lives on.

She couldn't agree more.

**Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you enjoyed it! I will update another chapter depending on what you think of it. Please review and tell me if I made any mistakes. :-)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Hello! Thank you for the reviews! They made my day :-). Here is the next chapter as promised.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or storyline. All the characters and most of this storyline belong to L.J Smith, Julie Plec and any other tvd writers. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Enjoy! :-P**

She was still crying when they came into the room, hunched over his lifeless body. Damon froze, as if he had woken from a nightmare to find that it was real, grief unfurling across his face, tears sparkling in his eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment. Elena collapsed to the floor next to Caroline, shock and hurt momentarily flitting across her delicate features.

"Stefan!" Elena choked out, the single word echoing across the silent room. Caroline winced sharply at the sound of his name, feeling as though a knife had gone through her, the pain nearly causing her to completely break down hysterically.

_Stefan, Stefan, Stefan._

Other than that, Elena showed no other sign that she was as grief-stricken as Caroline.

And Caroline hated her for that.

How was she not utterly distraught by this one man's death? Elena and Stefan were once epic loves, destined to be together. They had both been through everything together, Klaus' sacrifice, Stefan becoming the ripper and abandoning his feelings again, up until Elena fell for Damon. Stefan had graciously accepted them together and left town, only to suffer for it when he was attacked by Silas, something he didn't deserve.

He really was a selfless hero, the noble one.

Maybe Elena had lost so many people that she had gotten used to it. Even so, Caroline's anger was slowly directing towards her.

If looks could kill, Elena would be charred ash by now.

"We have to... have to cover him up" muttered Damon brokenly, lifting a blanket from seemingly nowhere and draping it over his brother's corpse.

Caroline gasped out, throat thick with tears, "Bonnie has a plan right? She's gonna bring him back."

Damon and Elena glanced at each other nervously.

"Tell me she's gonna bring him back."

The way they looked away from her intense gaze, gave her the answer anyway. They didn't know.

Yep, total breakdown was correct, she thought as a fresh torrent of tears dribbled down Caroline's cheeks again as she bawled and screamed angrily, clutching desperatley clutching at Stefan's hand.

It was like watching him die all over again, only a million times over because the brief spark of hope Caroline had had when she thought of Bonnie's plan had dissipated, leaving her with nothing but the crippling guilt and grief all over again.

Through blurred eyes, Caroline could see Damon storming up the stairs to find Bonnie. Blindly, she stumbled after him, Elena on her heels, too yearning for confirmation as to the fate of Stefan Salvatore.

_Crash! Bang!_ There went another lamp as Damon hurled it at the wall in frustration.

"Damon, calm down, I'm sorry!" shrieked Bonnie, walking over to him.

"You _lost_ it!" shouted Damon, brandishing a poker from the fireplace. Caroline cringed at the sharp ringing sound it made.

"My _brother_ is over there" Damon whispered, his voice cracking.

Caroline didn't think she had ever seen him look so vulnerable. In fact, seeing him so eager to save Stefan filled her with a new resolve to bring him back.

Yes, Caroline would bring Stefan back to life, whatever the consequence or cost.

No matter what.

**Thank you for reading! Please review, and if you have any suggestions let me know :-). I should update another chapter in a few days.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for reading! I hope you like this next chapter!**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and most of this storyline, they belong to Julie Plec and L.J Smith.**

The plan had been to find Luke and Liv to do the spell. Bonnie had said that Enzo managed to find another traveller to teach the spell to them.

The relief that bloomed inside Caroline was even more over-powering than the grief had been. The spark of hope had flared back up full blast inside her heart again and was well on the way to starting a fire in her body if it got any brighter and hotter.

She and Elena set off to find the twins. Surprisingly, it wasn't that hard, since they could hear them bickering over Luke driving slower than their grandmother with their vampire hearing as they took the main road out of Mystic Falls.

The vampires sped up, zooming along through the streets until they caught up with the arguing pair. Elena jumped in front of their car, a solemn look on her face. The car screeched to a halt when Luke saw her.

"A little tip, when you're trying to escape a cursed town where vengeful vampires can't return, make sure you take back roads." Elena smirked a very Katherine smirk, her voice with undertones of fury.

Maybe she cared more than Caroline had realised.

"I bet if I look around..." Luke muttered, twisting in his seat to look behind him, and seeing Caroline standing behind the car, prepared to stop them moving anywhere.

"Yep, using our own tricks against us" He confirmed to his sister, as they both got out of the car.

"We need you to do a spell to stop the travellers" Elena said abruptly.

"We can't, our coven would kill us" stated Luke nervously, glancing at Caroline, who had a murderous gleam in her eyes.

"Look, I'm sorry for trying to kill you, but it was the only way to stop the spell." Liv added, trying to defuse the situation.

"Well, don't worry about that, Stefan's dead. We need you to bring him back to life" Elena snapped acidly.

"Sorry, we can't, once we brought him back to life, what's stopping the travellers from continuing the spell?" Liv said anxiously.

Something in Caroline snapped as Liv said those words. Her rage boiled over, and took over her actions. Her hope was faltering, something she couldn't allow.

Without it, she had nothing.

So she snapped Luke's neck without a second thought.

Rationality didn't exist in her without Stefan around.

"Now you have a brother to bring back from the Other Side. Better hurry" Caroline snapped at a shocked Liv.

Elena also looked stunned-as if she hadn't believed Caroline would do something that drastic for Stefan.

Caroline couldn't believe it either. It was something she doubted she would do for anyone else, except her mother.

She was starting to question how platonic her feelings were for him. Maybe ever since he had dropped dead in the car park. It had been different to the grief she had felt for Bonnie.

When Bonnie died, it had felt like something was missing, the sudden loss of her shocking and gaping. But deep down, she'd known Bonnie would still be watching on the Other Side.

With Stefan it was like a shattering window, breaking all of her in one go. His absence was huge, it tore a hole in her life, maybe because she had seen him die and not Bonnie. And because the Other Side was disintegrating, Stefan couldn't watch over her, which, to her, was even worse.

The moment she had killed Luke had been the moment she realised she was willing to do anything to save Stefan.

She had meant it, with all her heart.

It was more powerful than anything she had felt for Matt, Tyler, hell even Klaus.

And it scared her to her very core.

Her feelings definitely went stronger and deeper than she had ever realised.

**Thank you for reading again! Please review and tell me what you think I hope you liked it. :-)**


	4. Chapter 4

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! I may finish this story soon, or make up a little after season 5, I don't know yet.**

**Disclaimer: Julie Plec and L.J Smith own the characters and most of the storyline, not me.**

Damon was planning to blow up the town.

The moment Caroline heard that news, she went ballistic.

"We're not blowing up our town Damon" Elena argued, voicing Caroline's thoughts.

"The cemetery's outside of the no-magic perimeter, a couple of un-populated areas other than that." Damon stated. Caroline could hear him smoothing out paper, realising she and Elena couldn't see the map.

"Hey, Professor Salvatore, not everyone can see the map."

"Yeah, don't forget about us." Elena added.

"Donovan, you had one job." Damon sounded irritated.

"I'll send you a picture" murmured Matt.

"We should be there." Elena argued, a little crease appearing at the top of her brow as she frowned.

A little bleep coming from Caroline's phone indicated that Matt had sent her the picture. Elena quickly loaded the picture on Caroline's phone, angling it so they could both see what Damon was talking about.

"Nope. You should not be. You are on witch duty because without crazy locks, no one's rising from the dead." Damon said adamantly, leaving no room for argument.

Caroline looked over at Liv putting her brother's body in the truck. She looked distraught. Caroline felt as though she should feel something, guilt, regret, remorse. But she didn't. Stefan was coming back, so she couldn't feel anything but relief and hope.

"So, next order of business, mass murder. Quarterback?" Damon said eagerly. Caroline could hear him rubbing his hands together as he prepared.

There were some shuffling noises as Matt handed Damon something.

"Thank you. OK. We got these from the Sheriff. Apparently there was some truth to her evacuation story. There's a major gas line that runs underneath the town. Now if it did leak, it could be deadly, as in massive explosion kind of deadly." Damon started.

Caroline stared in astonishment. He was really pulling out the stops to bring Stefan back.

_This is the first time I actually like Damon._ Caroline thought, astounded. Who knew Stefan dying could do that to her? Then again, Stefan's death had been doing a lot of other stuff to her as well.

"We can't blow up our hometown." Matt groaned, sounding upset.

"Says one of the only people left in this group who can actually live there." Damon quipped.

"How? We can't lure anyone anywhere stuck out here." Caroline asked, feeling frustrated. She would not let Stefan slip away from her. No chance.

"And that's where your mama comes in. She will convince them to gather somewhere inside." Damon replied confidently.

"Meanwhile, these two geniuses at seven will turn on the gas, let it leak. We'll have about ten minutes before anyone can smell it. You clear out. Boom! Travellers gone, resurrection spell starts, loved ones return. Good? Good? Class dismissed."

Caroline was a little uneasy about her mother being involved with the plan as she headed over to the graveyard, but if Stefan was going to be okay, then that wasn't important now. Somehow, she knew he would be fine. The fluttering feeling that had taken root in her gut at the thought of his face at some unknown point told her so. Jeremy and Matt texted her and the others soon after she arrived, saying they had turned on the gas, now all they could do was hope.

She switched off her phone and turned around as a rustling sounded behind her. She only tensed further, seeing it was Bonnie a grim look on her face. Steadying herself against the flow of tears threatening to attack her, she approached Bonnie.

"Is there really _nothing_ we can do to save you?" Caroline asked, her voice hoarse from the effort of restraining her tears.

Bonnie smiled sadly. "Yeah."

Grief hit Caroline like a tidal wave. So different and similar to when Stefan died at the same time.

Bonnie grabbed her hands. "But," she said, voice wavering. "I have had an amazing life. I got to live when I shouldn't have. And these last few months have been wonderful, and going to college, building my life back up was great with you, Elena and Jeremy by my side. I've had the _best_ life." Bonnie smiled, tears trickling down her cheeks.

Caroline finally started crying, she hugged Bonnie fiercly, unable to believe this was happening.

"I'm s-so sorry." she stuttered. "It's not fair. I w-want you to-to stay. I've known a-and loved you my entire life, I don't k-know how I'll live it without you." Caroline managed to gabble out, still clutching Bonnie tightly.

"I'll always be here. Always be with you guys." Bonnie pulled away, swiping at her tears.

"Love you, Care."

"Love you too Bon. I'll remember."

Bonnie gave one last small smile, gave Caroline's hand one last comforting squeeze, and walked further up the graveyard, near Liv to wait for the spell. Caroline was heartbroken; this was the worst day of her life. She just kept losing people. Stefan, Tyler, now Bonnie. It wasn't fair.

The tears fell freely down her face as she waited longingly for her loved one to arrive.

And grimly for her childhood friend to die.

**Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it! I wanted to write a goodbye scene for Bonnie and Caroline, since they haven't always been close and because I felt that everyone was more upset about Damon and not about Bonnie in the show, so I decided to give her a different send off. Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! This may be the last one, not sure yet.**

**Disclaimer: The characters and most of this storyline belong to Julie Plec and L.J Smith.**

It was starting. Wind was howling, rippling through Caroline's clothes, teasing her hair into knots that whipped about her face. Liv was muttering the spell, the candles around her flickering in response.

The resonating boom echoing through her ears from the explosion was also proof of that. She hadn't seen it, but judging from what she just heard, it must have worked. Bonnie was crouching over in pain, groaning. The travellers must be passing through. Caroline instinctively wanted to help her, but something in the corner of her mind was telling her not to interfere.

_Please, please, please let it have worked. Let us all be okay._ Caroline prayed silently. She had never wished harder for anything in her life.

_Stefan, Stefan, Stefan._ The mantra screaming his name was back, bouncing around her skull. She conjured up an image of him, and hoped he made it through.

The ferocious wind became even more ferocious, if possible. Trees branches swayed violently, old gravestones wobbled slightly, and Caroline felt as though she was about to be ripped off her feet.

Somehow through it, she heard Bonnie speaking. Her hopes soared. Was it Stefan?

"Elena! Did it work? Are you-?" Nope, Elena. Caroline was shocked. Had she blown up the town with Damon, killing herself?

Bonnie sighed, her shoulders relaxing in relief.

"Yeah?"

"Okay. When you guys pass through me, you're going to wake up with your bodies on the other side. I need you to get back here as fast as you can." Bonnie said, reaching out to presumably Elena and Damon. She tensed in agony again. They must have it through.

Suddenly, Bonnie looked up. It looked to Caroline as though she was listening to someone. Then Luke, the witch she had killed materialised, coalescing into existence, and sprinted for the mausoleum where his sister was performing the spell.

Bonnie turned to another person Caroline couldn't see.

"You need to come through." Bonnie insisted to the invisible person. To her immense shock, Enzo appeared. Walking around Bonnie, he looked up and saw Caroline. A huge smirk spread across his face.

"Ahh! See you around, gorgeous." he grinned, walking past her. Caroline stuck her tongue out at him, unable to think of anything more mature to do or say.

Suddenly, Tyler came into view.

"Tyler?" she asked hesitantly, Stefan's grey, dead body flashing across her mind once more.

"Yeah! It's me." Tyler smiled.

Caroline relaxed a little. They ran at each other, hugging tightly. Reunited as good friends, nothing more.

"Woah..." Tyler muttered, releasing Caroline.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worried. Was Julian still there?

"That felt different..."

"What do you mean?" she asked, both relieved and confused. This wasn't traveller issues.

Tyler picked up a sharp rock from the ground and sliced his hand with it. The wound didn't heal.

"You're not healing..." Caroline was stunned; could she receive any more surprises today?

"I'm not a hybrid anymore." Tyler said, blinking in surprise.

They were both interrupted by Bonnie arguing with someone. Turning around, Caroline saw Bonnie reach out to someone.

Suddenly, Stefan appeared, releasing Bonnie's arm. Caroline was about to run to him when she noticed his outfit. She was pretty sure Stefan hadn't been wearing a black leather jacket or brown boots when he died.

She was also sure that Bonnie was throwing him a look of extreme distaste and hate, something she wouldn't be doing, since Stefan hadn't done anything to her. It was when he walked over to a nearby tree, a few feet away from Caroline, a sinister smirk on his face that she knew he would never wear, that she finally realised with a growing dread deep inside her gut who it was.

Silas was back.

**Thank you for reading this! I hope you liked the change I added at the end, I just really wanted this character to come back to life in the episode :-). Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi, I will be taking a break from this story until season six comes out. I will write another chapter around October. Thank you for reading!**

**Disclaimer: The characters and most of the storyline belongs to Julie Plec and L.J Smith.**

Caroline was pretty sure her mouth was gaping open in shock. Why had Bonnie let _him_ through?

"Okay, I'm gonna ask what everyone must be thinking. What are you doing here?" asked Tyler pointing at Silas. He must have realised aswell.

Silas just smirked at him.

"Well, I was the traveller who taught the witch the spell that brought you all back to life."

Caroline had been wrong; there were a lot more surprises in store for her today.

"No, I think he means, why are you waiting here? Why don't you go, none of us matter to you." Caroline snapped. She was still upset over him not being Stefan.

Silas' smirk dropped from his face as he turned his attention to her. She swallowed anxiously. She should really learn to keep her mouth shut in front of 'Big Bads'.

"I'm waiting for someone, just like you," he replied guardedly, fixating his gaze on Bonnie, and the others still remaining on the Other Side. Caroline took that to mean their conversation was over. She also turned to Bonnie, resuming her patient wait for Stefan.

Suddenly, Alaric passed through. Caroline smiled. She had missed him, and was glad he got a chance to live again. He walked toward her and Tyler, smiling. He must be waiting for Damon.

Bonnie had started talking again. "Sorry, Elena, but," she reached out and suddenly Elena was there, a few feet away from her, looking horrified.

"Elena! Thank God!" Caroline cried, feeling relieved. One of her friends was back.

But Elena seemed hysterical. "No! Bonnie! Why would you do that?! I can't leave without him!"

"We'll find him!" Bonnie assured her.

"Wait? What's going on? Who are we missing? Where's Stefan?!" she yelled over the wind at Elena. Elena blinked at her blankly, as though she had temporarily forgotten who Stefan was.

"H-he's waiting for Damon." she stuttered, on the brink of tears. Caroline grew angry at Stefan. He was so selfless, it would destroy him. She wouldn't let it. Her train of thought was broken by Bonnie coughing violently, hunched over in pain.

Caroline was getting annoyed and impatient. Why was Stefan taking so long? She would make Bonnie grab him if necessary.

"Bonnie, are you okay?" Elena approached her, looking anxious.

Bonnie coughed harder, and blood started splattering her hands and she struggled to take in air. She was dying.

"Oh my God. Bonnie?" Caroline gasped out.

Bonnie stumbled sideways, looking dizzy. She knocked into someone, and suddenly Stefan appeared, looking shocked. He was holding Bonnie up. Relief overpowered her, buzzing through her veins. She yearned to touch him.

"Lexi said she would wait for him, I'm sorry." he said, guilt flitting over his features. Elena just nodded. Bonnie gave a small, knowing smirk, as though she knew something no-one else did. She had probably been eavesdropping on a conversation that was meant to be private. Caroline didn't care. Nothing mattered, not anymore, now that he was here. She ran human speed, half-sobbing at him, not quite knowing what was possessing her to do so. Stefan smiled and raised his arms.

"Care-" he begun, but she interrupted him by kissing him squarely on the mouth, grabbing his face in her hands and driving as much heat and passion into the kiss as possible. She felt delirious; the kiss was amazing, her best yet. It sealed her love for him infinetly. Faintly she heard someone wolf-whistling. Probably Silas or Enzo, but she really didn't care. Stefan was back.

Her world was perfect again.

She pulled away, breathless, still holding his face. Nervously, she looked up and met his gaze, not sure what to expect.

His eyes were sparkling, his mouth curved into a small, happy smile that she only saw on rare occasion.

She was ecstatic that she happened to be one of those occasions.

She beamed back again, beyond delighted that her feelings seemed to be reciprocated.

Someone broke them apart by clearing their throat. Remembering they weren't alone, Caroline stepped away, removing her hands from his face. Shyly, she turned around to see the others reactions. Bonnie was full-blown smiling. She clearly saw this coming. Maybe that was what her secrective little smirk had been all about. Tyler seemed shocked, but his eyes betrayed his happiness for her, fueling her relief; she was glad they had reached a place where they could both move on from each other. Elena looked stunned. Her eyebrows were raised slightly and her doe eyes had widened in what was _disappointment?_ Hurt? Caroline had probably broken a lot of girlfriend codes just then, but she didn't feel guilty. At all. Maybe it was the high of kissing Stefan. She might have to avoid Elena for awhile though, judging from her facial expressions. Enzo and Silas were just smirking. Silas was even waggling his eyebrows mischeviously at them. The wind had picked up noticeably. Fierce was an understatement. Trees were practically being yanked out of their roots and the masoleum seemed on the verge of collapsing. Caroline was suddenly distracted by Bonnie rolling her eyes in annoyance at someone on the Other Side before extending her arm to them. All of a sudden _Katherine_ stood there, a smug grin on her face, her curls whipping back in the wind.

Caroline definetly hadn't seen this coming. She stood there, well aware she probably looked ridiculous gawking in shock at her. Silas straightened, a soft smile spreading across his face, one Caroline had seen before on Stefan, just a few minutes before. This was clearly who he had been waiting for. Katherine smiled back and ran at him. They embraced tightly, before Silas kissed her lightly, tucking her hair behind her ears. Caroline didn't think she had ever seen Katherine look so happy. It was like she had stepped into a parallel universe. Katherine _never_ looked happy. The pair turned and stared at the others warily. Caroline and the others were just staring in shock. She felt as though she was about to faint.

"Private moment here?" Katherine said, still clutching Silas, looking annoyed.

"Right, right," everyone turned away and distracted themselves in the wait for Damon.

"That just looks weird." Stefan muttered into her ear. Caroline giggled, enjoying the chills that were racing down her spine as he spoke.

They watched as Bonnie threw out her arm at someone, Damon most likely.

"Damon hurry!" she yelled. The wind ceased and then stilled abruptly. Liv's candles blew out at the same time and she woke up out of her spell-induced trance. Caroline hadn't realised until then that she had blood dripping from her nose in steady streams, her face toremted and twisted in agony. Shock and betrayal was written all over her face as she glared at her brother. He had stopped the spell. Damon and Lexi hadn't come through yet. They were gone for good. As much as she had hated Damon for what he had done to her and almost everyone they knew, he was Stefan's brother, and she felt a strange emptiness at the thought of his death.

Disbelief filled Stefan's face as he realised what had happened. His eyes filled with tears that refused to fall and he walked away, releasing Caroline's hand. She suddenly felt cold on the side of her body where he had been.

She had gotten him back only to lose him all over again. Somehow this time seemed a lot more definitive.

She slowly walked after him, ignoring Elena's cry of horror and anguish. She found him sitting on a picnic bench, staring into space.

"I lost them both..." he sighed, slumping his shoulders.

"Two people I've known longest in this world. Both gone." his voice trembled.

"Lexi?" she asked, even though she knew the answer.

"She never came out. Neither did Markos. I know that's not a conicidence. It was, uh, her, unfinished buisness. And Damon, uh, he finally had everything he wanted." Stefan's voice had lowered to a mumble. He sounded like he was trying not to cry.

"He was happy. He should be here." Stefan broke down into tears. His head dropped into his lap as he cried. Caroline felt a sharp twist of sympathy for him and put her arms around his shoulders, comforting him.

She knew she would be doing a lot of that from now on.

He deserved it.

**Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! :-)**


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